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Rare Fancy Coloured Diamonds

Fancy colour diamond flower ring by Oscar Heyman Bros, circa 1980.

Ref: 22081

Thursday 14th April 2016

The beauty and rarity of the diamond is usually associated with colourless, brilliance and fire. It may surprise some to know that diamonds can in fact exhibit any colour of the spectrum from yellow to pink and even blue. Diamonds of the coloured variety are known as fancy coloured diamonds. The formation of a diamond takes place deep within the earth when carbon crystalizes under extreme heat and pressure, one way fancy coloured diamonds may occur is when a significant amount of trace elements find their way into this creation process. How intense the colour of a diamond depends on the concentration of these trace elements. Coloured diamonds which display even a hint of colouration are therefore extremely rare and prized for their rarity and outstanding beauty.

In Victorian times fancy coloured diamonds were treasured for their unique hues and were set as centre pieces in special jewellery items. Today the interest in these valuable gems has increased as knowledge of famous fancy coloured diamonds such as the blue hope diamond circulates. The father of the famous child star Shirley temple recognised the value of these gemstones and in the early 1940s purchased a diamond ring featuring a 9.54 carat rare fancy blue coloured diamond for his daughter. The ring was purchased for $7,210 and is up for auction on the 19th April where it is estimated to reach over $25 million.